Ethnomedicine
and/or Ethnoveterinary medicine is a growing area of research. More and
more scientists, medical and/or veterinary practitioners, field workers
in developing countries, and livestock owners are becoming interested
in medicinal plants. A simplistic definition for ethnomedicine is:
local or indigenous knowledge and methods for caring for, healing, and
managing human lives and livestock. This includes social practices and
ways in which livestock are incorporated into farming systems A
conference on ethnoveterinary practices for west and central Africa was
held in Kaduna between 14th-16th August recently (Gefu et al. 2000).
The Workshop documents the local knowledge systems and technology on
the use of plant and animal genetic resouirces of pastoral and
livestock producing communities in Africa. Practices range from
medicinal plants to the use of plants to improve, for instance, shelf
life, taste or palatability of animal produce. A similar one was held
earlier in Nairobi (ILRI and IT Kenya, 1997). A Workshop on
Bioprospecting, Marketing and Benefit sharing at the local level in
west Africa was organised by he Commonwelath Science Council in
collaboration with the Federal Government of Nigeria was held in Jos on
the 11th – 15th June, 2001. The Workshop after extensive deliberations
on papers presented adopted among other resolutions that there is:

Need for the integration of traditional medicine practitioners into the healthcare delivery systems.

Need for exchange of information through networking both at national, regional and international levels.

Traditional Medicine Practitioners should be registered as an
association with the appropriate authority at the
state/regional/provincial/national levels.

Collaboration and constant information flow between traditional
medicine practitioners and orthodox medical practitioners should be
enhanced;

Traditional medicine
practitioners must be trained, an essential component of the training
being standardization for safety and quality; The DRPU has been
involved in the training of herbalists at the National and Local
Government levels (see Annual Report DRPU, August 2001).

Gaps that exist in research and development and communities on one hand
and large-scale industries production of plant product on the other
hand must be bridged through commercial oriented research. The CSC
supported my research visit to ILRI between October 1 and November 5,
2000

Countries should designate competent National Authority or National
Focal Point to co-ordinate the activities of these initiative. This
website based at the DRPU will contribute to the activities of this
initiative. The university has the capacity to play the role of the
National focal point to coordinate the activities of this initiative.
Africa is endowed with an enormous diversity of animals and plants,
both domesticated and wild, and an impressive variety of habitats and
ecosystems. This African heritage sustains the food, medicinal,
clothing, shelter, spiritual, recreational, and other needs of most of
Africa's population. This biodiversity also ensures the essential
ecological functions on which life depends, including a steady supply
of clean water, nutrient cycling, and soil maintenance. It is the
treasure house from which future food needs, cures for deadly diseases,
and elements for knowledge and technology will be found. There is a
need for a network that will involve farmers, herbalists and all those
interested in natural products, and herbs used for the health care of
animals and man. It should also take care of people looking for
information on traditional methods of health care especially in Africa.
Plants have provided the basis for traditional treatment for different
types of diseases and still offer an enormous potential source of new
chemotherapeutic agents. Plants also produce a vast array of diverse
chemical substances and there is therefore, a justification for the
creation of a Network to coordinate efforts in this direction. The
Network will address complimentary efforts by the indigenous
communities in the management of human and animal diseases.